American Fine Art Photographer Adrain Chesser Presents Powerful Photographic Series “I Have Something To Tell You” and “The Return” at TEDxVienna

NEW YORK, May 15, 2014 /PRNewswire/ — In his critically acclaimed series “I Have Something To Tell You,” Seattle-based fine art photographer Adrain Chesser documents in a ritualistic fashion the spontaneous, raw reactions of his friends to the news that he is HIV positive and diagnosed with AIDS. The series hit a cord appearing on blogs and websites all over the world.

On April 22, 2014 (Earth Day) Adrain’s first monograph, The Return, created in collaboration with Native American Ritualist Timothy White Eagle, was published by Daylight Books. In The Return, Chesser’s lyrical and poetic images fuse documentary and fine art to create a mythical portrait of a people, place and an ideal based on the Native American way of life that literally meant ‘Giving back more than you take.’

Daylight Digital recently launched an immersive online platform that includes a digital version of The Return, among many other projects by established and emerging artists & can be viewed here.

On Friday, May 30, from 12:00 to 6:00pm Adrain Chesser will participate in a TEDxAmRing event in Vienna entitled “Change Worth Fighting For.” He will join an elite group of speakers from the worlds of fashion, science, and technology to talk about how his work helps broaden the discussion about sustainable change. Chesser’s photographs from both series will be exhibited at the venue.

I Have Something To Tell You

“When I tested positive for HIV and was diagnosed with AIDS, I had an extreme physical reaction whenever I thought about having to tell my friends and family. The phrase ‘I have something to tell you’ is often the preface for life-altering disclosures: pregnancies, deaths, love affairs, and illnesses of all kinds, winning the lottery. The phrase becomes a kind of mile-marker in a life, delineating what came before from what comes after.”

The Return documents Chesser’s journey with Timothy White Eagle and an unconventional band of comrades that over the course of seven years (2006-2012) would take them to the western states of Nevada, Idaho, California and Oregon where Chesser would experience a spiritual awakening. The group sought to experience a hunter-gatherer way of life that was in harmony with the Earth that would involve traveling with the seasons on what was referred to by the early Native American communities as “The Hoop.”